Method and system for facilitating car service

Abstract

A method and system for booking reservations for a car service and delivery of such services, wherein at least one booking system and/or at least one car service provider interact with a mediator/facilitator to arrange for and provide a car for a client using at least one client terminal device that can be a mobile device. In the method, information entered into the system via the client's mobile device is transferred and adapted by the mediator/facilitator to communicate with the at least one booking system, the at least one car service provider.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for facilitating a car service for a customer via the customer's mobile device, the method comprising:
 receiving information at a mediator server, the information including billing information from the customer and at least one request for delivery of the car service for the customer, wherein the mediator server is implemented on a server that is coupled to the Internet; 
 communicating with a car service provider to facilitate the car service delivery for the customer by:
 receiving an inquiry from the customer for a location of one of a plurality of cars associated with the car service located within a geographic area where the customer is located, and 
 in response to receiving the inquiry from the customer, identifying the location of a specific one of the plurality of cars based on communication with the car service provider, 
 communicating the location of that specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile device in a message that includes text, wherein the message indicates that the message comes from a first reply address, 
 receiving a customer request for the car service using that specific car by receiving a response to the message from the customer's mobile device to that first address, wherein the first reply address is one of a plurality of reply addresses available for identification in messages to customers as reply addresses, and the response being a message that includes text that consists of a single character or single word input by the customer, and 
 mapping the customer request to the customer billing information based at least in part on the reply address to which a customer message has been sent. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mediator server transmits information on other services to the customer based on the customer requested car service for the selected car. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein other services include at least one of reservations for hotels, airlines, or restaurants, tickets for venues or events. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein selection of services offered to the customer is based on customer information provided by the customer, mediator server records indicating the customer's historical use of services, or the customer's present or future location based on a requested car service. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request for delivery of the car service for the customer is received via the Internet from the customer's mobile device. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the car service is a car sharing service. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the car service is a rental car service. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the car service is a taxi service. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping of the customer request to the customer billing information is performed by the mediator server. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message communicating the location of the specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile device is a Short Message System message. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message communicating the location of the specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile device is a text message. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the customer's billing information is not shared with the care service provider. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mediator server and car service provider are integrated so as to provide an application running on the client's mobile device. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein information received by the mediator server is transmitted by the mediator to at least one other service provider booking system. 
     
     
       15. A system that facilitates a car service for a customer via the customer's mobile device, the system comprising:
 a mediator server that receives information including billing information from the customer and at least one request for delivery of the car service for the customer, wherein the mediator server is implemented on a server that is coupled to the Internet; 
 wherein the mediator server communicating with a car service provider to facilitate the car service delivery for the customer by:
 receiving an inquiry from the customer for a location of one of a plurality of cars associated with the car service located within a geographic area where the customer is located, and 
 in response to receiving the inquiry from the customer, identifying the location of a specific one of the plurality of cars based on communication with the car service provider, 
 communicating the location of that specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile device in a message, wherein the message indicates that the message comes from a first reply address, 
 receiving a customer request for the car service using that specific car by receiving a response to the message from the customer's mobile device to that first address, wherein the first reply address is one of a plurality of reply addresses available for identification in messages to customers as reply addresses, and the response being a message that includes text that consists of a single character or single word input by the customer, and 
 mapping the customer request to the customer billing information based at least in part on the reply address to which a customer message has been sent. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 15 , wherein the request for delivery of the car service for the customer is received via the Internet from the customer's mobile device. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the mediator server and car service provider are integrated so as to provide an application running on the client's mobile device. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein other services include at least one of reservations for hotels, airlines, or restaurants, tickets for venues or events. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 16 , wherein information received by the mediator server is transmitted by the mediator server to at least one other service provider booking system. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 19 , wherein selection of services offered to the customer is based on customer information provided by the customer, mediator server records indicating the customer's historical use of services, or the customer's present or future location based on a requested car service. 
     
     
       21. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the car service is a car sharing service. 
     
     
       22. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the car service is a rental car service. 
     
     
       23. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the car service is a taxi service. 
     
     
       24. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the mapping of the customer request to the customer billing information is performed by the mediator server. 
     
     
       25. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the message communicating the location of the specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile device is a Short Message System message. 
     
     
       26. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the message communicating the location of the specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile device is a text message. 
     
     
       27. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the customer's billing information is not shared with the care service provider. 
     
     
       28. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the mediator server transmits information on other services to the customer based on the customer requested car service for the selected car. 
     
     
       29. A system for facilitating a car service for a customer via the customer's mobile phone, the system comprising:
 a mediator server that receives information including billing information from the customer and at least one request for delivery of the car service for the customer via the customer's mobile phone, 
 wherein the mediator server is implemented on a server that is coupled to the Internet and receives the information from the customer's mobile phone via the Internet, 
 wherein the mediator server communicates with a provider of the car service to facilitate the car service delivery for the customer by:
 the mediator server receiving an inquiry from the customer for a location of one of a plurality of cars associated with the car service located within a geographic area where the customer is located, 
 in response to receiving the inquiry from the customer, the mediator server identifying the location of a specific one of the plurality of cars based on communication with the car service provider, and 
 the mediator server communicating the location of that specific car to the customer via the customer's mobile phone in a message that includes text, wherein the message indicates that the message comes from a first reply address, 
 
 wherein a customer request for the car service using that specific car is received by the mediator server as a response from the customer's mobile phone to that first reply address, the customer request being a message that includes text that consists of a single character or single word input by the customer, 
 wherein the first address is one of a plurality of addresses available for identification in messages to customers as reply addresses, and 
 wherein customer requests are mapped to the customer billing information based at least in part on the reply address to which a customer message has been sent.